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Sunday, January 08, 2006

Does Blogging Compensate for What We're Missing?

I was talking to a fellow blogger the other day, and they told me they were amazed to actually find that I'm hysterically funny over the phone. OK, OK, they didn't use the words 'hysterically funny'. But they implied that they certainly hadn't been expecting to laugh that much. They had pictured me as a rather sensible (perhaps nerdy?) type and were rather shocked, since my topics generally have a serious tone.

Believe it or not, people consider me the life of the party. I'm popular and well-received wherever I go. But I've had to 'dumb down' to reach out to the average person. I've even been asked (in great wonder) where SaurKid got his genius IQ. I've sometimes wanted to tilt my head to the side and drool a little and say (in a Rainman voice) "I'm sure I don't know"! Perhaps I will, the next time I'm asked. But they don't mean it spitefully - after all, they aren't geniuses themselves! So, I consider it flattery that they think of me as one of their own. Because, when I was growing up, I wasn't.

What I was then is what I still am inside: a scrawny, unkempt tomboy with a big vocabulary and granny glasses. Just because the outside has changed, the inside has remained the same. And I love learning for learning's sake. No one else around me does.

I have many friends, but I have craved intellectual companionship for years. That doesn't mean I want to sit around and discuss Quantum Physics all day (I would have to use my Rainman voice, then!) It just is nice to know that some of you could (I'm thinking especially of Ajay at this moment). And wonderfully, there are all sorts of views and opinions among you. I truly treasure the diversity and mental challenges.

So, I guess this is another kissy/huggy post. Because I really am so very glad that you're there. But I also want to know: Are you perhaps a different persona than you project in BlogLand?

18 comments:

Suzy-Q said...

I think my blog-face is pretty accurate except for one feature. I am not quite as sassy to others as I am on the blog. I don't think quickly on my feet, but living with Joe, that is improving!

I always enjoy your posts, learning something new much of the time. I like that :o)

michelle said...

I don't know, what do you think Saur?

Saur♥Kraut said...

Michelle, I think you are very little like your persona online. You are a very dynamic and funny person. You're also strong, and opinionated, and hesitate to put it into words for fear of offending. It's also impossible to copy the nuances, like the gestures and smiles that go with a real conversation which cannot be easily conveyed in writing. ;o)

Aunt Josefina, I'm so very glad you like the blog. Interesting that you're not so sassy in real life. So you're saying Joe is growing on you, huh? ;o)

michelle said...

I do have my opinions! I do calm down and change my mind when I stop long enough to listen. Do you like "I" am why little man is like he is? Naw!

Fred said...

My blog is all me. What you see is what you get. I'm a goofball here, and pretty much in real life.

Now, about the Quantum Physics...

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill said...

I always imagined you as a restrained sex beast...

I am an even bigger asshat in real life than I am in blog land.

Anonymous said...

My youngest sister has a genius IQ. My family is generally bright and up to most tasks. While I am not a genius, I have no complaints about my brain functions, except as I get older I find myself searching a little longer for a word. Sheesh!

I find that I fit in pretty well with most people. However, I cannot be with a life partner who is lacking in the gray matter. That is too stressful. Requires too much restraint.

You and Fred can discuss quantum physics. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

You have a terrific blog and I look forward to it each day. Thanks for the time.

Saur♥Kraut said...

Kathleen, I will pass on the Quantum Physics, too. But actually the Theory of Relativity has been challenged and the debate is quite interesting. I'd like to VIEW the debate but am not qualified to participate. ;o)

Daniel, ;o) Even bigger???

Fred, now I DO completely believe you! I've read your blog regularly. Some of the stuff you've done...!!!

Michelle, oh no doubt you're very rational and intelligent~! Yeah, your little one reflects mom. So did mine at one time (spazoid!) but he's chilled down a lot.

Mella said...

I tend to think that I'm very much myself here in the blogosphere, as I've welcomed friends and family to view what I've written. They're like a truth-litmus. So far no one has approached me to say that I'm not who I claim to be. =)

Although, I did have a very good friend read through everything I've written one day (bored at his desk) - and he wrote me a quite sweet email about how much he enjoyed my blog - but also, about how it surprised him that I was actually good at writing.

He meant it as a compliment, in the sense that he knows people who claim to want to be singers (as I claim to want to be an author), despite their lack of talent (in his opinion.)

His comment made me feel as though I'd been hiding my writing from my friends all these years, that it would surprise him so.

So, all this to say that, if anything, my 'writers-life' is better represented in the blogsphere than it is in my daily life.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Yes, I am much different. See, on my b**g I am pretty dull. But in person, I am pretty dull.

(One thing about you that you can't escape is you're really pretty. And you put that together with being really smart and witty, nobody knows how to deal with you. Boy I would sure hate to have that problem. Heh, no I wouldn't.)

Three Score and Ten or more said...

I talk too much on my blog and I talk too much in person My kids who read the blog occasionally kid me about not being able to say anything once. On the other hand, in person or in the blog, what you see is what you get. (Except that when I lose my temper on the blog, I go back and edit. I wish I could do that in person)

Dave said...

Are we really happy with this lonely game we play,
Looking for the right words to say?
Searching but not finding -- understanding anyway,
We're lost in this masquerade.

I’m thinking about changing my name to George Benson, I mean Mr. George Benson.

Whistle Britches said...

We can thank Leon Russell for that wonderful song. But Mr. George Benson for the baddddest guitar playing on the planet!

Blogging has helped me identify who I really am and if you didn't already know this Saur, yours was the first that I found.

Some Random Girl said...

I am exactly the same which gets me into just as much trouble in the blogosphere as in real life!

Valerie - Still Riding Forward said...

I think humor and "quick quips" require feed back and split second timing that can't be quite duplicated in writing.

As I have said before, the mate says the only thing wrong with my sense of humor is that I think it's funny!

I think the blog comes off more serious than I really am. The tendency to lecture is a real life trait - genetic. The rants are, as much as possible, limited to written format. Ranting in real life gets too noisy.

Making friends any place, talking about anything, an opinion, however uninformed, on everything, caring about others and wanting to be helpful and a leaning toward the brighter side of a view - that's me.

Toss in natural entertainer, tom boy, biker, hunter, fisher, baker, crafter, nature lover, that loves dark green velvet dresses with very high heels and low necklines, country music, some rock and roll and a little hippie and there I am.

Now THAT's funny!

Beaver said...

What you see is what you get. I write very spontaneously. I talk that way too.

The one thing I don't do in real life but that I do when I blog is to stay confidential.

Otherwise, I'm pretty much the real deal. (I think, any way.)

Brianne said...

I'm not usually quite so quick to tell details of my life to people, like I am in my blog. And I like that: my place, my pace. I like to sit and think and formulate how *I* feel about certain people or situations. But as far as a personality, I think I'm somewhat like you. I'm outgoing and funny, for the most part. But usually I'm the girl who deep down has her bearings and is smart, but almost acts "dumb-blonde" to get some laughs.

It's neat to think about this though...

mckay said...

don't dumb down all your posts. you could give them rating (like the movies) to let us know to whom they are intended.
M-mature (no potty jokes)
D-dumbed down for general audiences
G-genius (big words most will have to look up)
P-potty humor. everyone understands these jokes. kinda like will farrel's movies

just a thought.

me, my blogs are snarkier than my in person persona. in real life, i'm polite and smile a lot. in my blog i tend to bitch and moan to get it out of my system.